Unexpected
by Lady Drama
Summary: To her surprise, Koizumi Luna learns that she too can love. Luna/OC. Oneshot-Complete.


_AN: A Luna romance fic, 'cause if Bellatrix Lestrange can get hitched, so can she :)  
The only major liberty I've taken with canon is that Luna's age is 29 in this fic, which is supposed to be set 3 years after the Escape Arc. This means that she was 26, not 29 as Wikipedia says, during the Arc. _

* * *

Koizumi Luna.

Koizumi the bitch. Luna the actress.

Luna of the flowing blonde hair, cornflower blue eyes, perfect features and exquisite figure. When she walked across the street, boys didn't whistle because they were too busy drooling. The girls looked on, envious yet angry; wishing they could look the way she did, knowing that they never could.

As if it wasn't bad enough that Koizumi was blessed with such incredible good looks, she also had a huge stock of the deadliest weapon in a girl's armoury – charm. One sweet smile, one limpid look – that was always all it took. A light touch upon the sleeve if needed and lips so lovely, they had to be heeded.

Her Alice gave those already seething with jealousy further reason to despise her. No one apart from Persona, the Principles of Gakuen Alice and a few select others knew its true nature. Yet, if the gossip mill was to be believed it was the most heinous of all Alices, second only to Persona's destructive force. She would have snorted if she heard that but she never did. Her classmates were far too scared of her for any girl to approach her with nothing more than a friendly chat in mind. Yuka was one of the few whom she thought of as a friend but she was just too _nice_ to gossip.

Maybe that was why she felt so good when she was eleven again, if only for a brief period of time and with the aid of an artificial body. The children around her were so easily impressed. A few minutes and a small, deceptive show of fragility later, she was no longer the transfer student. She was the class's unofficial new Queen Bee.

It was a little known fact that she didn't have to use her Alice that first day to make the students of Class 2B like her. She was a little surprised but she didn't believe in taking chances and with a small shrug, proceeded to unleash her Alice upon them anyway.

Three years from that day, Koizumi Luna no longer possesses an Alice. It was stolen from her by Yuka's daughter and she found that she didn't really care. Let the brat have it. If it brought the girl even half the trouble it had caused her, it would be worth it. She no longer keeps in touch with any member of the Alice community. She has no friends there and exchanging long letters of reconciliation with former enemies is hardly her style.

Luna was one of the most internationally well-known Alice wielders. Although for most of the world, she was Koizumi Luna, the most talented actress since Marilyn Monroe rather than Koizumi Luna, Dangerous Ability Type. She preferred it that way. The past was long gone and now that she was finally free of its shadows, she never wanted to return.

Luna was the embodiment of what most people expected actresses to be – a spoilt, selfish star with unreasonable demands that sent harried directors into epileptic fits. She was the delight of every sleaze tabloid looking for a quick quote they could expand into a scandalous story and the bane of every mother with an easily influenced teenage daughter. Her personal team knew better but they also knew that if they ever revealed a hint of Luna's behaviour around them, which was rather quiet and unassuming, as if she was tired of the charade she kept up all day, they would find themselves fired without a second glance. If the press found out, it would ruin her reputation and career as the glittery city's official _Bad Girl_.

At 29, Luna was as ambitious as she had always been and even more polished and graceful. She spent her days looking effortlessly beautiful and her nights laughing at poor jokes cracked by rich men. Apparently, money made the faults that Yuka had tried to convince her were unforgivable nothing more than amusing quirks.

She was feminine, a social butterfly and as modest to a fault as she had always been.

* * *

The 4th of July dawned innocently enough. Birds were chirping in the tree outside, sunlight was poring in through the windows of her room. Her maid greeted her with her usual glass of organic orange juice and the newspaper. Gesturing her to keep them on her bedside table, Luna looked at her reflection in the mirror and remarked, "Such perfection is God's arrogance."

Her long suffering maid, Fiona, looked at her exasperatedly but forbore to comment. She had been in Luna's employ ever since the utterly undomesticated girl arrived in a strange new city with no idea how to clean or cook. Fiona had followed her mistress on many hare-brained adventures across the city, disregarding her despairing cries of "A chaperone is not what a wannabe actress needs, Fi!"

Over the years, Fiona had developed considerable affection for the troubled girl and thought of her with the same fondness with which she regarded her youngest daughter, now a 22 year old waitress in a café downtown.

"Drink your juice and come down for breakfast, dear. I've made scrambled eggs and you don't want them to get cold, do you?"

"Sometimes I wonder who is serving whom here," grumbled Luna, under her breath.

Nevertheless, she obeyed her maid and was downstairs in a quarter of an hour. Still muttering under her breath, she took her place at the table with all the grace of a sulky child.

"Now, there's no need to hurry, Miss Koizumi. You have no engagements today except to make an appearance at a party hosted by a new Japanese firm that is about to enter into a partnership with –"

She waved a manicured hand up in a gesture that made her conservative maid shake her head disapprovingly.

"We both know that I'm supposed to stand around, look pretty and leave all the talking to the people with ties. It's always the same. Whether it's a boy band or corporate bigwig giving the party doesn't really make much difference."

Her maid smiled, relieved that Luna was no longer brooding. She had noticed that simply ignoring the girl when she was upset was a terrible tactic and diverting her by idle social chatter far more effective.

"Wait a minute," said Luna, suddenly panicky, "Why don't I have any other engagements for today?"

"That's because you told your agent that you were feeling burned out with your hectic schedule and needed a day off," said Fiona soothingly, "The poor man was positively drowning under disappointed phone calls when I last saw him."

Her speech had its desired effect and Luna relaxed, falling back on her chair and picking up her fork. How anyone could look like a beautiful china doll while eating _bacon_ was beyond Fiona but Luna managed it.

Biting back a frustrated sigh at her mistress's relationship status, which seemed to be stuck at 'Stubbornly Single', she wondered whether there truly existed a man who could match up to her standards. Luna had received many offers of marriage from fans and friends alike but she had shot them all down. In a recent interview, she had sent a reporter to journalistic heaven by compiling a list of the virtues that she believed indispensible in a Mr. Right. _Class, Wealth, Beauty, Fame… _

* * *

Jonathan Saunders opened one bleary eye to look at his alarm clock and jumped up with a start, dirty blonde hair sticking up in impossible directions as he fluidly cursed.

His rather shabby two bedroom apartment was littered with empty bottles, old magazines and his precious art materials. He jumped over a pile of clothes that he could have sworn he'd dropped off at the laundry last week and critically surveyed his closet. Today was an important day for him. In the evening, he would be attending a party given by one of his most important clients and this party could prove to be the goldmine he had waited so long to strike. All of the town's glitterai would be present, with their big wallets and bigger egos. It would be the perfect opportunity to show them his work as one of his art works, S_plendor_, an oils on canvas depicting nature as he saw it, would be prominently displayed in the hall where the party was to take place.

After another long look at his closet, he decided to simply rent a suit. The two he possessed were rather dirty. An inebriated young socialite had spilled some wine on the blue one's coat and he had forgotten to send the second one for ironing after wearing it to his cousin's wedding.

Checking the clock once again, he grabbed a clean T-Shirt and headed out to persuade the owner of his neighbourhood's sole rental store to lend him an outfit on his already overextended credit.

He left his door wide open as he walked out. There was absolutely nothing worth stealing in his apartment and his neighbours, a friendly couple with an adorable six year old would take care of it for him anyway. He waved to Mrs. Maxwell, who was out walking her dog as usual and smiled at little Ben as the kid enthusiastically practiced stunts on his bicycle.

However one person in the area was incredibly unhappy to see him. "No," said a portly, red haired man crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Jonathan from the rental store.

"C'mon querida," he cajoled. Pedro's wife had once told him that the word was sure to make the man relent and it usually did work although Jon couldn't figure why in hell the man choked up and turned purple every time he said it.

"Absolutely not, you shameless boy!" shouted poor Pedro, flushing red.

"Please, Pedro," said Jon, breaking out his best I'm adrift-in-a-harsh-world face, "If I make a good impression today, it could make my _life_."

The man raised his hands in a silent entreaty to the heavens and finally sighed. He opened the door to his store and let Jon in, still scowling. "Why must I help an Idiota of degree one such as yourself is beyond me! Now take the suit under Rack C and run far away!"

"Thank you, querida!"

As Pedro turned violet and groaned when Jon said this, he wondered yet again what the word actually _meant_.

* * *

Reporters asked for sound bytes, champagne glasses clinked softly against each other and noisy chatter filled the room. A few minutes ago there had been a fireworks display in celebration of the Independence Day of some nation that Luna couldn't care less about and she stood next to her date, idly twirling a strand of her long hair.

She gave him a critical once-over and was pleased to find that he fit almost all the requirements she had of a man. Except one.

"_What is X Factor, Miss Koizumi?" the reporter had asked._

_With a dainty little shrug Luna replied, "Do you honestly call this muck tea?"_

"Darling?"

Luna blinked to find all eyes on her and her date looking a little confused. She gave a small, tinkling laugh and said, "I'm afraid your conversation got too complicated for me to follow."

He smiled indulgently and she wondered what they had been talking about to begin with.

"Never mind, love. It's almost time for the CEO's speech." He linked his arm in hers and led her away as she fruitlessly tried to recall what his name was.

Their table was directly in front of the stage. In common with most dinner parties, partners were separated as soon as they reached the table by a smiling hostess who led them to their seats. Luna found herself seated between a slightly nervous looking man and a woman so old, she was tempted to ask if she had a pet dinosaur.

"They're here to eat the food, not you," she said acerbically as he looked around the table and swallowed. Taking in his attire, she correctly guessed that he was unused to such parties, where no one knew anyone but acted like they were all best friends anyway.

He smiled at her, clearly relieved to have someone to talk to. "I'm sorry. It's just that all of them seem to know one another so well and I feel like a new kid in school standing in front of the class, slowly turning the colour of rotten tomatoes… Um, sorry. I'll stop blabbering now."

Luna wondered whether he was mentally stable and lifted her brows in cool hauteur. He flushed and said, "Crap, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jonathan Saunders."

"Koizumi Luna."

Despite years of living in the West, Luna preferred to introduce herself Japanese style. It added a hint of exotic mystique to an otherwise ordinary name. Besides, the name itself brought forth a series of happy memories from her childhood – a time when she had not known about the existence of Gakuen Alice.

"Where are you from?"

"Japan."

"Cool. There's a guy in my neighbourhood who's from Spain. Hey, do you happen to know any Spanish?"

"A little," she replied, wondering what this was leading to.

"Could you translate a word for me?"

"Perhaps."

"Querida."

Good grief, this was decidedly the clumsiest pick up line any man had ever tried on her. To ask her to translate the Spanish version of Sweetheart was not only cheesy, it was extremely cheap as well. Sniffing disdainfully, she began to turn away from him, towards the old woman who was now asleep and emitting gentle snores.

"Wait! You didn't tell me what the word meant."

She stared at him icily until he got the message and asked, "Is it – is it something inappropriate?"

Jon inwardly cursed. No wonder Pedro looked so mad every time he used the word. He'd thought it was just irritation at having his weakness discovered that was bothering the fellow.

Luna looked at him in disbelief. Was he honestly so stupid?

He continued speaking and heroically related the entire story to her. Jon's heart sank when her expression remained as frosty as it was before. Her face seemed oddly familiar but he couldn't quite place it in dim lighting of the hall.

At the end of his tale, he turned away, dejected. Man, he should have thought twice before coming to such a fancy social affair.

Suddenly, Luna laughed. It was not the feminine giggle she had produced for her date earlier in the evening but a genuinely warm smile. "That unfortunate soul must have been mortified!"

"Unfortunate? Him? What about me?" said Jon, encouraged by her laughter and putting one hand over his heart in mock-hurt.

"You deserve it all. You were foolish enough to believe a woman who was obviously hoaxing you. Oh, I'd love to meet her!"

Luna said the last bit as little more than a social platitude that she uttered several times a day and was surprised when Jonathan replied, "Well, why don't you? I'll be free by 7pm tomorrow. Or are you impossibly busy?"

As he spoke, the CEO's speech ended and the lights in the room brightened as the ones on stage dimmed. Jon's eyes caught the light and reflected it. Luna withheld a gasp with difficulty as she realised that they were an identical brown to Yuka's. No, she corrected herself. Jonathan Saunders' eyes were a lighter shade than Yuka's had been although they shone with the same warmth that her best friend's had always held.

To her own surprise (she _was_ impossibly busy the next day), she heard herself say, "Yes."

He seemed a little dazed and said, "Sorry?"

"I'd like to see you tomorrow. If you want to, that is." She felt inexplicably shy, as though she was back at the Academy facing one of her classmates.

He smiled. "That'll be great. I'll pick you up at 7:30 then?"

She nodded and stood up. But as she was heading towards the dinner tables with her date, she couldn't help herself. She turned back to check. Yes, Jonathan _was_ still standing there. He caught her eye and smiled and absurdly, she felt herself blushing. She turned back to her date, who asked, "Friend of yours?"

She nodded and he hailed one of his colleagues who had just entered. But throughout the evening something raced through her body, making her frequently look behind her for a pair of smiling brown eyes. A strange feeling rushed through her as her date kissed her goodbye on her doorstep and left.

* * *

The following evening Jon managed to finish all his work at the shop where he worked part time at record speed. His manager teased him about it, saying, "I hope you get a date with her tomorrow too. I'd love a day off. And with you running around faster than light rays I might actually get one!"

"Wish I could outrun sound waves as well and escape your irritating voice," he muttered under his breath before loudly saying, "I'm going home for the day!"

"I'm sure Juliet's wondering where art thou Romeo?"

Jon glared at his manager and she asked him, still chuckling at wit that was apparent only to her, "What did you say her name was?"

"Luna," he replied shortly, eager to escape.

"That reminds me, did you see that spread of Big, Bad Girl in Town on P3?" she said, holding up a newspaper, "Luna Koizumi. She's a famous actress, a fact you'd know if you ever stepped out of those paintings of yours."

But Jon didn't hear her. He was too busy gaping, open mouthed at the image of the beautiful blonde he had met last night printed on the celeb newspaper P3's front page. She was standing next to an incredibly ugly guy and smiling enigmatically.

_For mystique mixed with high fashion look no further than Luna Koizumi. For an exclusive interview with her, turn to pg 4. _

He could practically hear the stupid flowers he'd bought for her laughing from the counter where they lay. He flipped through the paper and felt worse with each line of the interview that he read.

…_Class, Wealth, Beauty, Fame and most importantly, X-Factor…_

Shit.

* * *

Luna was sure she had never tried so hard to look good or failed so miserably. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and decided that the eyeliner was too sharp, the lipstick better suited to a teeny bopper and the hints of pink blush too obviously fake. She tugged at her clothes uncomfortably, sure that the top was too slutty and the jeans too casual.

"If you don't stop fidgeting right now, I'm going to tie your hands behind you!" said Fiona. She gave her maid a half-smile and stood up, pacing around the room. She looked at the clock behind her – 7:30 pm, read its digital display.

With a small sigh of disappointment she sank back into her seat. What else had she expected? He was probably an average Joe, who'd been frightened off by media reports of her wild behaviour. It was utterly ridiculous of her to hope that he wouldn't find out who she was after voluntarily telling him her name. He must be out with an average Jane at the moment. Someone with unremarkable brown hair and boring grey eyes who lived in his neighbourhood and had a cute puppy…

"Hi." A soft voice interrupted the flow of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Jon standing near the door with a beaming Fiona by his side.

"You're late," said Luna, her voice coming out harsher than she had meant it to.

He shifted uncomfortably under her icy gaze and said, "By two mintues. C'mon, It isn't such a big deal!"

She stood up at that and he took an involuntary step back. "Great going," thought Jon, "_Hell hath no fury like a woman_ and all that. Who the hell thinks of these absurdly long quotes anyway?"

He noticed a lamp lying on a table near her right hand. _Brilliant. Looks like she's going to brain me with a pink lamp. That'll look good on my obituary. Killed by neon pink light._

"Shall we leave then?"

Jon blinked. "Yeah – Yeah, sure, let's get going!"

She slipped her hand into his and they walked out towards the sunset.

* * *

_AN: I'm aware that I've probably gotten Luna's character all wrong since it's been months since I read the manga, so I apologize if I've managed to offend any manga readers. But I really wanted to give Luna/OC a shot._

_I know my male OC is a very,very far cry from perfect. However, he's my first OC and I kinda like him anyway. Criticism is welcome!_


End file.
